What we know so far about the Azerbaijan plane crash that killed more than 30 people

An Azerbaijani airliner bound for Russia crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday after diverting, killing 38 of the 67 people on board. Some experts suspect that the plane went down after being hit by Russian air defense systems.

Here is what is known so far.

How did the plane crash?

An Embraer 190 of Azerbaijan Airlines was en route from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus on Wednesday when it was diverted for reasons that are not yet clear.

It crashed while trying to land in Aktau, Kazakhstan, after flying east across the Caspian Sea.

The plane went down near the coast about three kilometers from Aktau. Mobile footage circulating online appeared to show the plane making a descent before hitting the ground and exploding in a fireball.

Rescuers rushed 29 people who survived the accident to hospitals.

How did Azerbaijan react?

Azerbaijan observed a national day of mourning on Thursday. National flags are lowered across the country, traffic across the country stops at noon, and signals are heard from ships and trains.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said that it is too soon to speculate on the causes of the accident, but he said that the weather forced the plane to change its planned route.

“The information I was given is that the plane changed its route between Baku and Grozny due to bad weather and headed for Aktau airport, where it crashed on arrival,” he said.

What do officials, experts say about the possible cause?

Authorities in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Russia say they are investigating the crash. Embraer told The Associated Press in a statement that the company is “ready to assist all relevant authorities.”

Russia’s aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, said preliminary information indicates that the pilots diverted to Aktau after the bird strike that led to the emergency.

Some analysts suspect that the holes seen in the tail section of the plane pictured after the crash may indicate that it may have been damaged by Russian air defense systems defending against a Ukrainian drone attack.

Mark Zee of OPSGroup, which monitors the world’s airspace and airports for accidents, said analysis of the wreckage showed 90-99 percent that it was hit by a surface-to-air missile.

Osprey Flight Solutions, an aviation security company based in the United Kingdom, warned its customers that “Azerbaijan Airlines flight may have been shot down by a Russian military air defense system.”

Osprey CEO Andrew Nicholson said the company had issued more than 200 warnings about drone attacks and air defense systems in Russia during the war.

In Azerbaijan, online newspaper Caliber said the plane was shot down by the Russian Pantsir-S air defense system as it approached Grozny. It asked why Russian authorities failed to close the airport despite the drone attack on the site on Wednesday, and why they did not allow the plane to land in Grozny or other nearby Russian airports after it was hit.

Asked on Thursday about the allegations that the plane was shot down by anti-aircraft missiles, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “it would be wrong to speculate before the investigators make a decision.”

Officials in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan similarly avoided commenting on the possible cause of the crash, saying it would be up to investigators to determine how it happened.